APPENDIX. 471 



them, without any assistance. All hives designed to accom- 

 modate more than one colony, will, for the same reason, be 

 unsuited to the wants of such cultivators. By making my 

 hives about 18 inches, from front to rear, and varying the 

 other proportions, I am able to combine a shape convenient 

 for handling, with one well adapted for wintering bees in 

 cold climates. 



On Movable Bottom-Boards. 



I find that the use of punk-smoke,* obviates some of the 

 chief objections to movable bottom-boards. By blowing a 

 little smoke into the mouth of the hive, the bees may be 

 quickly driven up among the combs, so that the hive may be 

 lifted and the botlom-board cleaned, without crushing a 

 single bee. 



By the use of movable bottom-boards, the bee-keeper can 

 set one hive on top of another, making use of the upper 

 one as a place of storage for the surplus honey. In hives of 

 the simplest form, built in this way, a given quantity of 

 honey may be secured on frames, in marketable order, at a 

 very moderate outlay ; I believe for as small a sum as in 

 any kind of hive whatever. (See PI. 1.) 



On Winteeing Bees in the Open Air. 



In the previous part of this work, directions were given 

 for furnishing proper intercommunications among the combs, 

 and for allowing the dampness of the main hive to escape 

 into the upper cover, by opening some of the holes in the 

 spare honey board. To-day, (Jan. 9th 1857,) a number of 

 colonies were examined, to which suitable winter communi- 

 cations between their combs, had been given, all the holes 

 on their honey-boards being left open. The month of De- 

 cember was severely cold, the thermometer falling to 17' 



* The use of smoke io subduing bees, is referred to by Aristotle, 

 Columella, and Pliny. Bee-keepers who have never tried it, can hard- 

 ly conceive how wonderfully it facilitates the management of bees. 



